Flange tightener



J. H. BRocKwAY TA FLANGE TIGHTENER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 17. 1968 INVENTOR. H. B y F. BERAMRDINI JAMES ROCKM/R FR ANK BY United States Patent 3,498,160 FLANGE TIGHTENER James H. Brockway, Erie, and Frank F. Bernardini, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignors to Textron, Inc., Providence, R.I., a corporation of Rhode Island Filed Jan. 17, 1968, Ser. No. 709,847 Int. Cl. B25b 13/02, 13/46 US. Cl. 8190 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The tool disclosed herein is intended for use by plumbers and other mechanics to tighten pipe flanges and similar devices. In its simplest form, the tool is made up of a bar having two laterally extending pins supported in longitudinal slots or spaced holes. The spacing of the pins can be changed by moving them along the slot or from one hole to another. The side of the bar opposite the pins has a laterally extending part which may receive a wrench, a plumbers ratchet handle, or other handle. The laterally extending member can have a mating member on it to receive a plumbers ratchet or the like. The pins can be provided with quick release latches, such as snap washers, safety pins, rings, or nuts.

Plumbers presently usually tighten flanges on pipes in various makeshift manners because there is no present tool available which can be conveniently handled, transported, and stored and which will yet be eflicient for use in tightening flanges.

It is, accordingly, an object of the invention to provide an improved flange tightener.

Another object of the invention is to provide a flange tightener which can be operated by means of a conventional tool which a plumber ordinarily has in his tool kit.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tool for tightening flanges which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and simple and efficient to use.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the in- Vention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the tool according to the invention operated by a pipe wrench.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the tool shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show another embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show parts of yet another embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 7 through 18 show various accessories for use with the tool shown in the embodiments of the invention referred to above.

Now with more particular reference to the drawings, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the tool is generally indicated at 10, which is made up of a bar 11 with slots 12 and 13 at each end. These slots 12 and 13 receive pins 14 and 15. The pins have collars 17 fixed to them and nuts 16 lock these pins in place at a preselected position along slots 12 and 13. Marks 40 on bar 11 show locations for the pins for various flange sizes.

The laterally extending part 18 is fixed to the bar 11 by welding or other suitable means and the laterally extending member has an outer generally cylindrical surface having spaced axially extending slots 21 on it which define teeth. These teeth cooperate with pawl 22. Outer member 20 has a bore that receives part 18. The pawl 22 is pivoted to the outer member 20 by means of a pin 23. The outer member has four flat sides 19 on which the wrench 25 may engage to rotate bar 10. The pawl 22 is urged toward the notches by means of a spring 24.

The wrench may be an ordinary wrench such as a pipe wrench of the type commonly found in a plumbers tool kit and the wrench has the spaced jaws 26 attached to the handle 27 and an adjusting nut 28 operates in the threads 30 to adjust the position of the jaws. A slot 29 receives the knurled adjusting nut 28 and a slot 31 is formed in the handle which may be used to hang the wrench on a nail, hook or the like. Thus, when it is desired to tighten a pipe flange, the pins 14 and 15 may be inserted through the holes in the flange, which would normally receive the bolts through which it would be attached to another pipe flange. Then the pipe Wrench shown in FIG. 1 would engage the flat surfaces 19 of the outer member 20 and the operator would operate the wrench so that the pawl 22 would slide over the notches when moved in a clockwise direction but would cause the member 13 to rotate when the wrench is moved in the other direction.

When it was desired to rotate the flange in the opposite direction, as for loosening it, the pipe wrench would be turned over so that the pipe wrench engaged the flat surfaces and rotated the bar 11 in the opposite direction.

The pin 32 is used for retaining the pin in a flange. The pins are disposed in slots in the ends of the pins 14 and 15 and can be moved to the full line position shown in FIG. 1 when the pins 14 and 15 are through the slots or holes in a flange so that the tool is held in place on the flange and will not slip oiT. When the pin 32 is moved to the dotted line position, the pins 14 and 15 will obviously slide out of the holes in the pipe flange.

It will be noted that by use of the pipe wrench as shown in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the plumber can conveniently exert a considerable force on the pipe flange to tighten it and he may even use a hammer or other persuader to strike the handle 27 to exert an even greater force on the flange.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4, the handle member 125 is interchangeable with the ratchet pipe tools that are in common usage by plumbers at the present time. A bar is shown that may have the pins extending laterally to engage holes in the flange, as in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2. The bar 110 has a laterally extending member 118 fixed to it and the laterally extending member 118 has a flattened side member 118 to which a wrench can be attached. The outer portion of the member 118 is cylindrical and has spaced slots 121 in it. Around this cylindrical member, a wrench and handle member is supported. This handle member 125 is similar to that shown in FIG. 6 and has the pawl member 122 which has a point 123 and a handle 124 so that the pawl can be reversed by rotating the pawl to rotate the flange in the opposite direction.

The reduced size member 118' can have flat sides and be engaged by a wrench, such as the wrench 25 shown in FIG. 3 or the wrench and handle 125 shown in FIG. 6 can be used.

A tool of slightly different design is shown in the embodiment of FIG. 5 and this tool will accept the wrench shown in FIG. 6. This tool shown in FIG. 5 has a bar 211 which has spaced holes 212 and 213. These spaced holes receive the pins 214 and 215 which are held in clamped position by means of the nut 216. The pins 214 and 215 will be received in the holes in the flanges that are normally engaged by bolts which clamp the pipe flanges together.

The laterally extending member 218 has the outside cylindrical surface shown with the spaced cylindrical bands 233 and 234 of greater diameter than the crests of the areas between slots 221. These bands prevent the pawl tip 123 from sliding laterally. The outside cylindrical surface has spaced slots 221 in it and these spaced slots receive the pawl tip 123. The inner cylindrical surface 235 receives the bands 233 and 234 and, therefore, the handle may be freely rotated around the member 218 when the ratchet points in the opposite direction and the ratchet point will compress the spring 132 to allow the pawl point to snap over these ridges defining the groove, then when the handle 127 is rotated in the opposite direction, the member 218 and the bar 221 will be constrained to rotate with it.

Since the bands 233 and 234 are higher and of a greater diameter than the outside diameter of the crests of the portions defining slots 221, the handle member 235 will not slide laterally off of the laterally extending memskilled in the art and is bent at 321, 322 and has a hook I v 323 on it which overlies the end 324 of the pin, thus the legs of the pin indicated at 327 and 328 may be bent toward each other so that the end 324 is removed out of the hook 323 and the legs 328 may then be passed through the hole 316 to hold the pin 314 in position in the bar 214.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 8, the cylindrical pin 414 has an outer peripheral groove 415 which receives a C-washer 416. The C-washer may be in the form of a heavy O-ring which will have suflicient resiliency and friction to engage the inside of holes such as 212 and 213 in the embodiment in FIG. 5 to hold the pin in position.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 10 shows a pin 514 which has a head 516 on it and this pin may be placed through the hole such as 212 and 213 in the embodiment of FIG. 5, and the O-ring 516 may engage the sides of the holes in the pipe flange being tightened to prevent the tool from falling off during tightenmg.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 12

shows a cylindrical pin 614 that has a head 616- on it and a C-washer 617. This pin may be substituted for the pins 214 and 215 shown in FIG. 5 and the C-washer 617 may be placed in position after the pin 614 is inserted through the holes in the pipe flange to prevent the device from falling out.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 13 a spring detent is indicated in the pin 714. The spring detent 716 is of the type familiar to those skilled in the art and is made up of the two spherical balls which make up the detent 716. These detents will snap into suitable holes on the inside of holes such as 212 and 213 in FIG. 4. A ring member 718 may be suitably supported in one end of the pin 714 to prevent the pins from being removed from the flange during operation.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 11 shows a rod 814 having a hole 815 with slots 816 and 817 communicating with the hole at each side. The pin indicated at FIG. 12 may be inserted through this hole 815 with the ends of the pins 617 extending through the slots 816 and 817 thereby making it possible to press the pin into place. The pin 617 may be a roll pin or the like.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 14 and 15, pin 920 is held to rod 922 by pin 923 of the snap slide and grooved rod.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 16, 17 and 18, screw 911 enters threaded hole 915 in pin 913, holding it in place in a bar such as bar 211.

i The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A tool for tightening pipe flanges comprising:

an elongated bar generally rectangular in cross section,

said bar having spaced pins attached thereto and extending from one side thereof,

a laterally extending member attached to said bar between said pins and extending from said bar in a direction opposite said pins,

said laterally extending member having two axially spaced cylindrical raised bands extending around said outside surface,

circumferentially spaced axially extending slots in said cylindrical member between said bands,

a laterally extending member having an internal cylin drical surface adapted to be rotatably received on said cylindrical bands,

a hollow member having an internal cylindrical bore receiving said cylindrical laterally extending member,

a detent on said cylindrical member,

said detent member on said cylindrical member having an end surface inclined generally to a line tangent to the crests of said cylindrical member between said slots,

said detent member being adapted to be moved outwardly from said crests when said hollow member is moved in a first direction relative to said cylindrical member,

and resilient means forcing said detent member toward said cylindrical member when said hollow is swung in a second direction relative to said cylindrical member.

2. The tool recited in claim 1 wherein:

said hollow member has outer flattened surfaces and a pipe wrench having jaws engaging said flattened surface and a handle.

3. The tool recited in claim 1 wherein said handle is the handle of a pipe wrench,

and the jaws of said pipe wrench engage surfaces on the outside of said wrench member.

4. The tool recited in claim 1 wherein a handle is attached to said hollow member.

5. The tool recited in claim 1 wherein said laterally extending member has a flattened side member extending laterally from said laterally extending member and fixed to it,

said flattened sided member being adapted to be engaged by the jaws of a pipe wrench.

6. The tool recited in claim 1 wherein the ends of said pins remote from said bar have openings therein and fastening member disposed in said openings.

7. The tool recited in claim 1 wherein said bar has marks adjacent said pins for locating said pins for different flange sizes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,140,625 7/ 1964 Pannozzo. 3,412,635 11/ 1968 Chmiecewski. 1,373,180 3/1921 Durgan et al.

FOREIGN PATENTS 498,276 11/1919 France.

JAMES L. JONES, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

